Flood
by AngelofPrey
Summary: A one-shot featuring my OC Laura Proctor in her natural habitat, hunting scary things with the Winchesters. Rated T for slight language. This is NOT a pairing fic.


DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SUPERNATURAL OR ITS CHARACTERS, THEY ARE OWNED BY KRIPKE

"This is what I brought you this you can keep,  
This is what I brought you may forget me.  
I promise to depart just promise one thing,  
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep."  
~AFI, Prelude 12/21

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now, Laura! Run!" Dean yelled, as he fired at the spirit.

Eighteen-year old Laura Proctor bolted in a limping lope as fast as she could with her injury. Romeo bounded after her, following his mistress. Laura's black winter coat streamed out behind her, slowing her down, but she kept on running, clutching her shotgun so tightly her knuckles were white. Her blonde hair had worked loose from the bun she'd put it in to keep it out of her face and it fell about her shoulders and whipped her eyes as she looked back over her shoulder to make sure nothing followed. All she saw was the flash of pistol fire ricocheting off the gravestones. Her hiking boots scuffed the dry leaf-covered ground sending stabbing pain up her back from the wound in her leg, but she kept on running, only stumbling once.

She ducked behind a mausoleum and leaned up against its stone exterior panting heavily. She groaned slightly and gripped her leg, wincing as she touched the piece of shrapnel lodged in it. She looked slowly out from behind the mausoleum and strained to see any sign of the Winchesters. She heard the boys yelling to each other and the occasional gunshot and menacing shriek from the spirits.

Ducking behind the mausoleum again she broke the lock on the gate, it swung open with a groan of protest. Then she shoved all her weight against the stone door of the opening heaving against the large slab, all the while feeling more and more dizzy as blood flowed from her wound. Finally the door gave way and hauled back revealing a long set of spiraling stairs into the darkness below. As the door fell beside the stone wall there was a loud growl from Romeo that made Laura turn on her heel and almost fall over. She stared into the face of one of the five spirits they had been hunting. This one looked almost entirely intact except for the fact that his face would flicker to the half-eaten maggoty look his body no doubt carried. Laura swung her shot gun from her back and fired one round into the spirit, the salt made it disappear in a puff of ash. She quickly reloaded then turned back to the mausoleum. Laura reached into her backpack and dragged out a flashlight and switched it on before entering. As creepy as they were, mausoleums were the safest strongholds during a fight; the most easily defended position in an entire graveyard. Romeo whined staring down at the light that Laura carried with her as she disappeared down the stairs, finally he barked and followed her down.

Down the stairs she spiraled for what seemed like ages. Spiders, worms, generations of dead leaves, and above all cobwebs coated the stairs and walls. The stench of a rotting corpse betrayed the fact that this place hadn't been aired out in a while; Laura wrinkled her nose in response, pulling a bandana that had been soaked in rose water over her face. This piece of clothing always came in handy when digging graves, just because they were fairly fresh never meant they smelled all that nice.

Finally she reached the main room, urns decorated most of the walls, pushed into little alcoves and dusted over with perhaps a century's worth of grime. A few scattered tombs were shoved into the walls as well, the names of their occupants long past filled with the same grime so that it was hardly legible. Several tombs also stood freely in the middle of the room, their names were not legible at all.

Laura set her backpack down and started to fortify her temporary fortress. The collection of pure iron protection charms on her necklace jingled happily much in contrast with her surroundings as she rummaged through her bag. Pulling out a small bag of salt she limped over to the stairwell and spread a thick line of it across the bottom step, then she hobbled around the room until the white line met with where she had begun. Straightening she noticed that there was a collection of six torches around the room that still had some tinder in them, so she limped around with her lighter and soon the torches around the perimeter of the room were burning brightly.

Laura shuffled back to her backpack and slumped down onto the ground giving Romeo a scratch behind the ears. Then pulling out a roll of bandages proceeded to try and give herself a little first aid.

The single spirit she and the Winchesters had been following had turned out to be five spirits, and when they had gone to the graveyard where the five were buried the spirits were none too happy and attacked. It wasn't helping matters that the graves were in five separate plots, so five separate bodies had to be salted and burned. It wasn't a surprise that at least one of them got hurt. It had become John Winchester's rule that if either of the boys, or her got hurt in a fight, that they would find the nearest fortifiable place and to hole up in there until the others came for them, or until morning should the worst have happened. Because of these orders Laura always carried an extra bag of salt in her backpack and a watch. On this particular hunt, Sam had been knocked out early on and had been laying in a ditch somewhere in the graveyard. She and Dean had distracted the spirits long enough for Sam to come to and slip away. John had managed to find the graves of two of the spirits and burn their bones but protecting him from the third one had given Laura this wound. The spirit had appeared and somehow managed to make one of the nearby headstones explode, the shrapnel had hit her in the leg and Dean had rushed in to help her, she escaped and ended up here. Laura was not usually the kind of girl to get hurt during a job, she was usually the one helping to kick some ass, and to Laura a broken nail was no big deal and getting her hands dirty was her favorite thing. In fact, out of her anatomy class the previous year she had been one of the few to actually dissect the rats in their final project for the year. However, a chuck of rock shaped something like a pair of scissors sticking out of her leg was no broken nail, and she did have some common sense, more than Dean anyway…

Laura winced as she grasped the jagged bit of rock sticking out of her left thigh. Had it hit her less than a foot higher, or an inch further to the right, she would be in some serious trouble. Her breath escaped her teeth in a hiss as she removed the shrapnel as quickly and smoothly as she could. It had only "grazed" her entering crookedly and protruding from the other side, it wasn't a pretty wound to say the least and it made it hurt to move. Clenching her jaw she wrapped the leg in a tight bandage. The wound had already seeped blood down her leg as she ran, so a large wet, red, stain was creeping down the leg of her jeans.

After the bandage was wrapped Laura pulled a pack of cigarettes from her bag and lit one. She drew in a long breath and let the nicotine numb the throbbing in her leg. A second later she coughed violently, her body rejecting the chemicals being forced into it. Smoking wasn't a habit she'd picked up years ago, in fact this was only her second smoke in her life. Despite the high, she really couldn't see any point in continuing the habit; it only made it harder to concentrate on the hunt. Laura glared at the cigarette and threw it down with a growl.

Laura jumped, startled as the dead leaves around her caught fire.

"Shit!" she cussed jumping up, the adrenaline in her veins keeping the pain in her leg from registering. She drew a bottle of water from the backpack and emptied it over the fire putting out most of it. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" She then threw her coat on it and stomped out the remains of the fire. Panting heavily she let herself slide back into a sitting position.

Laura's head shot up at the sound of gunshots. "Hurry up Dean!" she heard John yell. Several more gunshots followed, they were getting closer. Laura shuddered, and bent her non-injured leg resting her chin on her knee. Romeo cuddled up next to her and licked her face lovingly.

Laura was plain, she always had been, her thick fake-blonde hair usually hung limp straight down to her shoulders, her brown roots showed clearly due to her not being able to afford the dye _again_ this month. Her eyebrows were too bushy, and she had an almost flat chest. Her best features were her eyes which had flecks of amber in their rich brown irises, and her lips, which weren't even perfect; because of their fullness they were easily chapped and had numerous scars from splitting on the cold nights of stake-outs. She had an okay body, tall and lean but boney at her hips and shoulders, and slightly flabby at her thighs. She had a bit of muscle, all hunters did; it was a perk of the trade. Overall, she wasn't a cover girl and she knew that very well, Dean liked that type, and he had never once shown any romantic interest in her. Not that she wanted it from him anyway…

She'd been suspended from school once or twice for hitting another girl who made fun of her for some reason or another. It took a lot to get Laura to lose her temper but once she did it wasn't a good idea to be within striking distance. John had figured out the ways to calm her down when she was little, but it didn't spare him and Dean from multiple bruises. She had the tendency to be driven over the edge when someone was making fun of her. Dean's harmless teasing didn't bother her, but being the girl who didn't really fit in anywhere, and didn't make any friends due to the life style of a hunter; constant moving, made her the prime target for lots of bullying. That's mainly what she and Sam had bonded over; neither was particularly good at the making new friends thing, so they stuck together in hopes that there really was power in numbers, plus Dean did do a lot to shield them from as much as possible once he was established as a "cool guy."

Laura had been given to John by his mentor, Daniel Elkins; who was Laura's uncle on her mother's side. She had been brought to the Winchesters one morning in late November and had grown up practically a 'Winchester' ever since, although she did spend summer break, holidays, and other various hunts with her uncle. No one really knew where her mom was now, after one of Laura's sisters had been killed on a hunt her normally happy-go-lucky, and strong mother, had all but lost it, leaving Laura and her twin Amy, with her father and aunt. The last time she had been seen by any of her relatives besides her uncle was the night Laura's father had been possessed, which was two weeks after Laura's twin had been kidnapped.

Laura found her thoughts travelling back to how she had gotten into this hell she called a job.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Laura, Laura! Get up, you must get up!" Laura woke to a strange man shaking her.

"What's wrong?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Quickly you must hide!" Laura started as she focused on the man's face, he had dark blue eyes, and dark blonde hair. She had no idea who he was…

"Who are you? Where's auntie?" Laura's eyes went wide when there was a flash of lightening, and on the man's shadow against the wall she saw the silhouette of great wings extended from his back. As the light disappeared thunder rolled in the sky.

"I am here to protect you." He said calmly, watching Laura's eyes intently. "Quickly, we must go. There is no time to waste!" Laura hopped out of her bed and took the man's hand. He ushered her out of her room and into the hallway.

"Laura…" a man's voice called up the stairs in a sing-song manner, "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

"That's my Daddy!" She whispered to the man, pulling on his hand to go over to the stairs.

The man did not let her and crouched to her eye level, "That is not your father." He said. She peered up at him puzzled, but let him lead her to the linen closet.

"Stay in here, do not make a sound, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear. Do you understand?" The man was looking at her with an intensity and urgency that frightened Laura. She nodded the fear curling in her belly as she quietly sat in the closet huddled among the towels and bed sheets. She clutched the stuffed lion she had dragged from her bed and peered cautiously through the horizontal blinds on the door that allowed her the small amount of light she had.

"Hey! What are you doing in my house?" Her father yelled coming up the stairs, Laura held her breath.

"Do not play games with me, we both know who we are." The man snapped.

Her father smiled evilly and suddenly his eyes turned black. "I wouldn't dream of playing games with you, all mighty angel of the lord." He said patronizingly, the angel's eyes narrowed and his face hardened. "Last time I remember seeing you was… oh, two thousand years ago… How've you been? How's the family?"

The mysterious angel said nothing, simply glaring at the demon with a hard look on his face. The demon became serious. "Now then, where is the child?"

"Why do you want her?"

Her father scoffed, "Your daddy is omniscient, didn't he tell you? Or did your boss leave that little detail out before she cut out her grace?"

"She isn't one of the children who can see us in our true forms. There are plenty of those scattered throughout the world. She's hardly of any interest to Heaven, so why does Hell want her? Why not kidnap one of the ones who can communicate with us?"

"Yeah well, that may be true but, Azazel has a bad feeling about this one… See a few years ago he met up with someone who claimed to be from the future, and this guy was a bit chummy with this here little girl—or at least this here little girl when she grows up big and pretty… that sounds a bit like one of your powers doesn't it? So he can't let her get too comfy with good ol' Sam and Dean Winchester."

The angel stiffened, "You know his plans."

Her father smiled that evil grin again, "Unfortunately for the likes of you, no, I don't. But like you, I have my orders, and like you there are consequences for disobeying... Where is the child sonny-boy?"

The angel's stance straightened and his chin lifted. "She's far from here, in a place protected against demons."

The demon laughed haughtily. "Lying is a sin my dear boy…" her father said, "Are you going to follow in your boss' footsteps… and fall?" Again you could tell the demon had hit a chord. The demon began to pace around the angel and talk him down. "Wouldn't you give anything, just to be able to feel? I can, and anger, hate, love, it's all worth it… You care about the little girl don't you? Oh, that's right, you can't, you're not allowed to have feelings! What would you give to be able to love her, angel? What would you give to be able to feel the need to protect her beyond the fear of breaking a promise? What would you give to feel it when her mother kissed you, sealing the deal you made with her? What would you give to feel the joy of a parent when they see their child for the first time? What would you give… angel of the lord?"

"Robert? Who are you talking to?" Laura's aunt, Emily said, climbing the stairs from the kitchen where she had been washing the dishes after dinner. Laura's father looked away from the angel suddenly to glare at Laura's aunt, but when he turned back, the angel was gone. Laura looked up suddenly at the tall figure that had appeared next to her in the closet. She stood slowly and the angel's hand went to her shoulder and squeezed it, one finger going to his lips telling her to stay quiet. She wondered why he was being such a coward; an angel should be able to defeat a demon right?

Laura's attention snapped back to outside the closet when her father wheeled on her aunt angrily shouting, "You! He got away because you distracted me!"

"Rob what the hell are you talking about? Who was that up here?"

"Shut up you slut! Where is the girl?"

"Robert!" Her aunt cried, a look of disgust and shock spreading across her face. "How dare you speak to me like that?! Who do you think you— no! Let him go you monster!" Her father had just flashed his true eyes.

"I'm the one giving orders here, auntie." He sneered, grabbing the woman's wrist. "Now where is Laura?"

"Why do you want her?" She said desperately trying to pull away.

"Need to know basis, and you, pretty lady, don't need to know. So where is she?" He said his grip tightening.

"Go to hell." She snarled spitting in his face.

"That wasn't very nice." He said gripping her head with both hands, and then he twisted it sharply. There was a sickening snap and the woman fell to the ground and didn't try to rise.

The angel pressed his hand over Laura's mouth just in time, keeping the sound of Laura's horrified cry safe behind her lips.

"I'll find her without your help… whore." He slowly walked into Laura's room, cooing her name softly. A few moments later there was a flurry of swears and the demon emerged from Laura's room his eyes swirling black. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks upon seeing a woman with blonde hair emerge from the master bedroom carrying a book and a flask.

"Josephine! Oh my god, Josephine!" he said running towards her, "Someone's taken Laura!"

"Go back to hell you son of a bitch, you can't fool me." The woman said proudly, then she sprayed him with holy water from the flask. Her father screamed in pain clutching his face as the water seemed to burn him.

"Whatever you do Laura, stay in my room!" Her mother cried. Laura felt the urge to tell her mother that she was actually in the linen closet, but she swallowed it back.

"So, she's in the bedroom huh? Very weak fortress for such an important little girl." Her father said walking forward. He pushed her mother into the wall as he passed, so hard that the plaster dented and cracked around her. Then he strode into the room locking the door behind him.

Laura's mother stood slowly her eyes flicking to the linen closet quickly before watching the bedroom door carefully. Suddenly, screams of rage emitted from behind to door and the walls shook and the lights flickered.

"A Devil's trap? Josephine you sneaky bitch!" Her mother opened the book and began to read the Latin on the page. Sounds of choking and evil oaths floated to Laura's ears until suddenly at the bottom of the stairs another man appeared.

"Josephine?" He said his tone full of worry.

"Oh god, Daniel! It's Robert, he's been possessed, and they're after Laura!" she cried to him stopping the Latin.

Laura's mother cried out from surprise as there were two gun shots and the demon walked out of the room. "Rule number one Josephine; never make a Devil's Trap big enough to let the 'devil' get a gun…"

Her mother's eyes went wide and she screamed in pain as a bullet buried itself in her shoulder. She fell to the ground writhing in agony as blood seeped from the wound.

"I'll deal with you later." The demon hissed stepping past her and facing off with Laura's uncle.

Daniel stared at the demon hate burning in his eyes as he pulled an old gun from his jacket.

"A pistol? Is that the best you've got?" Robert sneered, spreading his arms. "Go ahead Daniel, take your best shot! A little old gun can't hurt us!"

Laura's uncle did just that. Her father's body flickered as if a flashlight had been turned on in his rib-cage and convulsed before it crumpled on the ground not far from her aunt.

Daniel then lowered the gun and hurried over to his wounded sister. "Josephine, you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for getting here so quick Daniel, I wouldn't have been able to hold him."

"Course you would have… Didn't dad always say you were the resourceful one?"

Josephine let out a weak laugh before rolling on her good shoulder to look back at the linen closet. "Thank Castiel for me?" Then she slipped into unconsciousness from loss of blood.

"Castiel?" Her uncle muttered before looking at the linen closet. He rose and walked over to it, opening the door her stared into the blackness of towels, before looking down and noticing the small girl peering up at him.

He knelt down to her and looked her in the eyes; his face was lined from wind and time. "Laura?" he said, he had never really met his niece before this moment, and his last time seeing her was a baby shower for the twins. She had grown considerably since then.

"Laura, honey… you can come out now… nothing's gonna hurt you anymore." Daniel Elkins said holding out a hand to the frightened girl.

Laura looked up shakily, gunshots and her aunt's screams still raged in her head. Very slowly she stood, reaching out and grasping her uncle's hand, she left the closet she had been hiding in. The vivid images haunted her, every time she blinked her eyes; cold black ones stared back at her. She did her best to suck it up and make a good impression on her uncle.

He looked her up and down and said, "Well, you certainly are brave aren't you?"

Laura cocked her head at the man. "What are you talking about? I hid in a closet the entire time, that's not very brave."

"Well you're contrary aren't you? I hate that in a kid."

Laura was insulted and was beginning to get angry. She pouted put her hands on her hips and said, "Yeah well you're not so great yourself!"

"Scrappy too…"

This time he smiled a little, but it faded when he heard sirens in the distance getting steadily closer.

He began to push her back into the closet. "Laura whatever you do don't tell the police about your father, about the black eyes… Tell them the truth about everything but leave out anything weird like that, okay?"

Laura nodded while protesting being shoved around again.

"Laura, be good and I promise I'll tell you exactly what happened later, okay?"

"Fine." She said sitting back down amid the towels.

"Now then, act scared, they'll believe your story then. Plus your mother will tell something similar I'm sure… once she comes to…"

"She's gonna be okay right?"

"Yeah, Laura, help is on the way, she'll be fine." Then he closed the door and waited outside it as sounds of the officers breaking in could be heard.

As they came up the stairs her uncle faced the closet and winked at her mouthing the words, "It's okay."

"Get down!" one of the officers yelled drawing his gun on Daniel. He did, putting his hands on his head as his jacket was searched. The old pistol was taken out and placed in a plastic bag, he was handcuffed as the officers looked down at the bloody scene.

Laura waited as her mother was taken from the house in a stretcher and the bodies of her father and aunt were outlined, photographed and put in a bag. Finally one of the officers came to the doors of the linen closet and opened them. Laura squinted at the sudden presence of so much light, but she heard as the officer yelled, "Hey! We got a live one!"

"Come on little one, it's alright now, no one's going to hurt you." She was carried down stairs through her old house, this was the last time she'd ever pass through its rooms. As she passed into the morning light outside she noticed that there were already reporters gathering on her front lawn. The cameras all glared to life all trying to get a picture of this little girl who had had such a long night. Laura closed her eyes against the lights and hid her face behind her shoulder.

As the paramedics checked her over for any injuries a policeman questioned her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Laura" she replied innocently.

"Okay Laura, are Josephine Elkins and Robert Proctor your parents?"

"Yes."

"Are Emily and Daniel Elkins your aunt and uncle?"

"Yes… where is he? Is he alright?"

The officers looked at each other with a hesitant look. "Laura, he killed your aunt and father, he's been arrested." They said.

Laura's mind exploded with panic. "No! No he didn't! He was protecting us!"

"Then who did?"

"A de—my daddy…" she caught herself just in time. "He went crazy! First he came after me but I hid in the closet so he couldn't find me, so he got really angry and went after Auntie D when she came upstairs. Then my mom came out of her bedroom to try and protect me and she tricked him into locking himself in the bedroom. Then Uncle Daniel came but Daddy got out of the bedroom and had a gun, and shot mommy—wait! Is she okay?"

"She's on her way to hospital now, she's stable so she should recover."

Laura sighed with relief, her mom was hardly ever around but Laura was happy when she was.

"Now Laura, what happened next?"

"Oh, right… Well he shot mommy then went after Uncle Daniel, and Uncle Daniel had to protect himself so he shot Daddy…" It was now that the previous night's events sunk in and she began to get frantic. To get her to calm down they let Daniel out of the police car he'd been shoved into and let him go to his niece. After the girl calmed down, she sat huddled on the edge of the ambulance with a blanket around her shoulders reliving the night before with tears in her eyes.

"Laura." She heard a low voice call. She looked up and into the eyes of the man who had brought her to the closet in the first place.

He knelt down to her and took her hand within his own. "Laura," he said, "Do you think you are safe?"

Laura nodded looking into his eyes, she immediately felt comforted by them, as if something powerful, but overwhelmingly good lay behind them. "I feel safe." She affirmed.

"That is good." He said, he was about to continue speaking but was interrupted by the small girl throwing herself into his arms, her thin arms wrapping around his neck with disproportionate strength.

"Thank you." She whispered. "You saved my life." The angel looked a little baffled at the small creature pressing herself to his chest, but oddly contented by it as well. After a moment he wrapped his arms around her small body feeling the warmth seep into his hands and reveling in this simple pleasure. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this was wrong, but his logic firmly stated, 'who could this possibly harm?'

Finally he pushed her away and pulled the blanket that had slipped off when she'd hugged him, back over her shoulders."I'm going to make you sleep." He said calmly, "And when you wake you'll remember last night, but you won't remember me, do you understand?"

Laura nodded, she wanted to beg him to let her remember, after all he had saved her life! But she found she couldn't say a word. Then he placed two fingers on her forehead whispering, "Sleep." Laura did curling up under the blanket and passing into a deep slumber.

The angel stood and looked over at Daniel Elkins who was being formally apologized to by the police; his sister had woken up and given them the confirming story that he had indeed saved their lives. Daniel then turned to look for his niece and saw an unfamiliar man standing over her. The man turned to look at him and nodded, Daniel knew immediately, this was who his sister had meant as "Castiel," and mimed tipping his cap to the man. They stared at each other until a paramedic walked between them with a stretcher. As the paramedic passed between them the strange man disappeared.

Daniel took off his baseball cap and ran his hand through what remained of his hair sighing. "This is gonna be a long day…" he whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The weeks following that event consisted of Daniel and Josephine Elkins telling Laura the truth about the monsters under her bed, and the truth behind her younger sister's mysterious death two years before, also the truth behind her twin's disappearance. There were tales of the damned, the wicked, and the deadly, and when they were done Laura decided to become a hunter too. Three days later, Laura's mother disappeared, again leaving Laura behind.

Uncle Daniel had looked at Laura in a quizzical manner; he certainly didn't know how to handle a six-year-old. He could train her no problem, but she had to go to school and live life as normally as possible for the next twelve years before she could go out on her own. Only one thing came to mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Uncle D are we there yet?" Laura whined for possibly the hundredth time in the last hour. It was about five in the morning and Daniel didn't want to hear it after driving all night.

"I told you before Laura, to be a hunter you have to be patient… Stake outs are lonely and time-consuming bids. You can't get careless and miss something. Now then, calculate the distance between the speed signs like I told you…"

"But I've been doing that forever!" she whined.

"Do it some more, hunters have to be good at calculation!"

"The distance between speed signs?" She asked incredulous.

Daniel took his eyes off the road for a moment to take in the sour look his niece was giving him. She was sharp, he had to give her that. "You never know." He shrugged. "Besides it's not that much farther, we just crossed into Iowa, it won't be much longer now."

Laura gave an exaggerated groan and went back to looking out the passenger seat window.

Daniel smiled to himself thinking, 'She is such a drama queen. Just like her mother…'

Two and a half hours later, or two and a half days later in Laura's opinion, Uncle Daniel's truck rolled into the parking lot of an old run-down motel. It was the typical dreary grey of a November morning in the mid-west. The sun had barely risen and the sky was the cold pale grey of rain clouds except for the blood red sun that rose in the East.

"You're in luck Laura, they're here." Uncle Daniel said.

"That's what you said about the last two, how is this one any different?"

"Because _that_, is their car." He said pointing to the oldest car in the lot. It was off black partially because of the sun's draining rays, partially because of the layer of dirt caked on, and it looked vaguely like it wouldn't see another hundred miles without falling apart. It was a classic 1967 Chevrolet Impala, and Laura liked the look of it.

Opening the door to her uncle's truck she hopped down from the high seat and slung her sister's little pink plastic backpack over her shoulders and followed her uncle to the motel door. It had a rusted number "10" on it that looked like if the door was slammed too hard the "1" would fall off.

Laura stared up at the door with a suspicious look and rocked back on her cowboy-booted heels. Her brown hair was in a pony tail at the back of her head, and she wore her dad's old denim jacket with the Denver Broncos insignia stitched into the back, and her aunt's protection charm necklace, over an old white t-shirt and flower-stitched jeans.

Uncle Daniel knocked twice on the door with a sharp rap, and then looked down at Laura who stared back up at him nervousness showing in her face. He smiled at her warmly and laid a hand on her head smoothing back her hair as the door was opened part-way.

"Who is it?" Came a stern voice from behind the door at about Laura's height.

"Dean? That you, son? It's Daniel Elkins… your Dad's old friend."

A square faced kid peeked through the barely open door, he eyed Laura up and down, and she cocked an eyebrow at him challengingly.

"He's not in right now." Dean said still staring at Laura. "You'll have to come back later."

As Dean began to shut the door in their faces it was caught by someone else inside. "Woah Dean, it's alright…" The door was opened all the way and Laura stared up at an impossibly tall man with dark hair, dark eyes, everything about him was dark, even the smile on his face which seemed rather out of place and a little strained, like he'd seen so many bad things in his life that he could hardly bare to smile anymore. "They're friends." He said smiling at Daniel. The door being opened gave Laura a better view of Dean as well. He was dressed in a pair of combat boots, camouflage pants, a black t-shirt and had a tie wrapped around his head Rambo-style making his hair stick straight up in spikes. He held a sawed-off shot gun in his hands prepared so that if either one made a wrong move they would have a head full of silver buck-shot before they could set foot through the door. There was also a little boy behind them peering curiously over the back of his chair. His hazel brown eyes studied Laura and Daniel intently.

"So what can I do for you?" The tall man asked her uncle snapping Laura back to what was going on right in front of her.

"John, I've got a favor to ask you… a big favor…" Uncle Daniel said with a sigh. John's eyes flickered from Laura's face back to Daniel's, he already knew what Daniel was going to ask.

"You want me to take care of the girl don't you?" he said shifting his weight from one foot to the other, as if he expected heavy negotiations.

Daniel struggled for something to make it sound like less of a burden but gave up with a defeated sigh. "Would you John? She's got nowhere else to go."

"What about with you?"

"John, I have no idea what to do with kids, that's why I never had any."

"Who is she?"

"She's Josephine's girl, well one of 'em. The other got taken a while back by a demon, no one's sure if she's dead or not. An' the third? Well, let's just say it wasn't pretty."

"So why doesn't Josephine take care of her?"

"Josephine… left her. Her mind's not been right ever since her youngest got killed, and we were lucky that she even came back to save Laura at all…"

"Then where's she been all this time?"

"With her father and my other sister, Emily. She can't stay with them anymore John, Robert was possessed and killed Emily, shot Josephine before she skittered off again. I got the demon but… he was after Laura… we're beginning to think that there's a connection between this and Amy's disappearance. Amy and Laura were twins so…"

"A demon could have confused to two…"

"Exactly."

"So why do you want to give her to me?"

"Because John, she doesn't have anywhere to go, I move around so much, and I can't see her off to school with my schedule… she'd be alone the entire day. I just thought that with Dean and Sam being around that they'd make good friends for—"

"Woah! Hold on!" Laura shouted, coming between Daniel and John. "Uncle D, you can't leave me with them! I don't know them! Besides they live in a crumby motel-room!"

"What's your point?" Uncle Daniel said looking down at her quizzically.

"Well, that's gross! And you told me you'd train me to be a hunter! Now you're just going to abandon me, to people I don't know?"

"First of all _Princess_ Laura, if you came with me you'd be staying in the same type of place. Second, John was my student, he knows all my tricks and is currently teaching little Rambo over there and might be Sammy-boy soon. Dean's your age and you can go to school together. Laura you'd be alone all the time with me, isn't it better to have _some_ friends than to have none at all? You'll get along real well, I promise… just like siblings."

"But Amy and I didn't get along that well…" She mumbled.

"Well then best friends." Daniel said cupping her chin with his hand.

"Okay…" she said, a few tears welling in her eyes. She didn't want to leave her uncle! He might get hurt without her!

"That-a girl, be strong now. You're dad would want that."

At the same time Laura started to argue with her uncle, Dean had stepped in front of his father.

"Dad! What are you doing?!" he nearly shrieked.

"What is it Dean?" His father said looking down at him.

"You're going to let some strange… _girl_ in here, to _live_ with us?!"

"That's what Daniel is asking, and I do owe him a favor."

"But Dad, that's a pretty big favor!"

"Dean, she's like us… her life has been turned upside-down by a tragic event, and now she needs a place to stay, and a new family… You think you can help her out?"

Dean's head drooped feeling a little guilty about not wanting her to stay. "I guess. But it's a _girl._" He mumbled kicking the dirt.

"What was that?"

"Yes, sir."

"That-a boy Dean. Show some kindness and protect those in need."

Laura turned and faced Dean, as Dean turned to face Laura. They looked at each other sheepishly and their consecutive guardians gripped their shoulders lightly.

Dean was the first to speak.

"Hey, I'm Dean. Dean Winchester." He held out his hand to her.

She eyed him still not quite sure before shaking it and replying. "Laura, Laura Proctor. Pleased to meet you."

Then their moods brightened a little as a bond was formed. Dean led Laura into the small room.

"Are you hungry? We have pie!" He said.

"What kind?" Laura asked.

"Apple."

"Sure, that's my favorite!" she replied.

"Me too!" he laughed.

Daniel watched the pair with a hidden smile, but John seemed a bit less delighted with the turn of events. He turned back to Daniel and raised an eyebrow shaking his head.

"Well, it looks like my son has made up my mind for me. We'll take her."

"Thank you John. She means a lot to me, and I can't think of a better place for her to be."

"Yeah, yeah, does she have any stuff?"

"I'll go and get it from the truck."

As Daniel turned and went and got her duffle bag of clothes and few belongings that she just had to bring with her, John turned and watched Dean serving the new girl a slice of pie, and Laura introducing herself to Sammy.

'Well,' he thought, 'At least the boys won't grow up without some female influence… can't say it'll be good on _her_ character though…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Laura's eyes opened suddenly, she didn't remember falling asleep, she was lucky to have woken up at all given the loss of blood. She leaned over to pull her watch from her bag and was quickly reminded of the wound in her leg by a stabbing pain that shot from the wound down to her toes and then back up her spine and extended out to the tips of her hair, or so it seemed. Laura winced and moved more cautiously, pulling the bag to her before fishing for her watch.

"5:00 a.m." she whispered. A dark feeling gripped her stomach as she realized she'd been in the mausoleum for about three hours now. Romeo whined next to her hip not raising his head from his paws. 'Come on John, boys, where are you?' she thought, her eyes focused on the stair case.

As if answering her mental call the beam of a flashlight became visible from farther up the twisted staircase. "Laura?" A deep voice boomed down the stairs after the light. "You down here?"

"Here!" she cried, her voice cracking a little. "Dean! I'm here!" She moved to stand and winced as pain again shot up her side.

By this time Romeo was up and had his tail wagging and bounded up the stairs to Dean who greeted him with a friendly pat on the head. Dean's face fell when he saw her leaning against the wall, gripping the smooth chiseled stones for some manner of support, and a pained look on her face.

"Hey, hold on!" He said rushing to her. He grabbed her arm with his free hand and she smiled at him weakly.

"I'm okay, really." She said, Dean looked at the front of her pant leg.

"Son of a-- Dude, we gotta get you to a hospital, quick…"

"Dean, I promise I'm fine, okay? Can we just—"

Laura took a few steps forward and fell to the floor, her legs giving out on her.

"Okay, you've lost way too much blood." He said slipping her backpack over his shoulders. He stooped and slid his arms underneath her and lifted her like she weighed nothing.

"Dean I'm fine, I can walk, really!" she insisted growing a little irritated at being treated like a damsel in distress.

"Save it sister… you're not fooling anyone." He growled, irritated at her stubborn pride.

They squabbled at each other like they normally did, Laura growing increasingly squirmy and thus harder to hold on to as they reached the entrance to the mausoleum.

"Dean! I am not one of the teenage girls you hit on who just lost their boyfriend or got themselves mixed up with a spirit! I can take care of myself thank-you-very-much!"

She suddenly stopped and looked at John Winchester who was watching the scene with vague amusement painted on his dark features. Sam stood next to him with his head cocked a little to the side.

"She was in this tomb?" John asked.

"Yes sir." Dean and Laura answered at the same time.

"She fortified it properly?"

"Yes sir." They again replied in unison.

"Laura, how bad is that wound?"

"Not bad sir, I can walk." She replied.

"Dean? Can she walk?"

"No sir, she was having a hard time standing." Dean said, evoking a glare from the girl still cradled carefully in his arms.

"Okay, Laura we're bringing you to the hospital and getting you fixed up. Then after we make sure you're okay we're going to pack up and head back home, from what I understand Dean you and Laura have a history test Monday morning."

"Yes sir." They replied.

"Alright boys let's move out."

Dean carried her to the Impala and stuffed her in the back. Sam slid in next to her and he had to deal with her leg across his lap until they got back to Harrisonville, Missouri. Dean drove with Romeo behind his father.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dean carried the sleeping Laura into their motel room and lay her on his bed. They had spent their entire Sunday in the emergency room, apparently there had been a pretty big car accident on the highway that night with about a dozen injuries. They had arrived about five minutes before the Winchesters and were still going all day, apparently this hospital was run on the first-come first-served, basis.

Lara finally got some attention when she pretended to slip into shock without consulting John or Dean with her plan.

Finally they were back at their motel room after going to a local pizzeria and devouring about three large pizzas. Pulling off her coat and boots Dean began to undress the sleeping girl.

"Hold it, Dean. Let Laura take care of that…" John said walking into the room with Sammy and turning on the light.

"But she was…" He protested uselessly. He sighed in defeat and turned back to Laura's still sleeping form. While he was distracted she had curled herself into a ball and had a contented look on her face.

Dean felt his heartstrings tug at seeing her sleeping peacefully and felt a surge of brotherly protectiveness rise in his chest all the while blaming himself for letting her get hurt by the spirit in the first place. If anything he had grown accustomed to this girl being around constantly, if nothing else he loved her like a sister. His hand gently brushed a strand of hair from her cheek before he whispered,

"Laura. Come on sweet cheeks, you gotta get into your pjs before you can sleep…"

Laura opened one eye to glare at Dean, "First of all, you know I hate it when you call me that…" she growled, "and second, I really can sleep in my clothing thank-you-very-much."

He chuckled to himself, "Still haven't lost enough blood to stop being stubborn…" he sighed, "Come on Laura, you can sleep on the bed again tonight, I'll take the couch, just go get into some pajamas…"

Laura sighed and stretched before sitting up and walking, or rather limping to the bathroom.

When she finally emerged after dressing and taking care of herself she found Dean lying sprawled on the bed, one foot hanging off and his hand brushing on the floor as he tossed and turned to get comfortable.

She sighed and hobbled over to him.

"Come on Dean." She whispered, taking note of little Sammy, and John Winchester already asleep on the bed they were sharing that night.

"What s'morning already?" Dean said in a tired haze.

"No butt-head, it's still dark out, move over and let me in." she said in a whisper.

Dean did just that and Laura climbed into bed next to Dean. They usually didn't sleep like this, usually she and Dean alternated between the couch/sleeping bag, and the second bed. But tonight, she was injured and it was his night on the bed so they improvised.

"G'night Dean." She whispered into the darkness.

Laura took a muffled groan from within Dean's pillow as his reply.

After a few moments she snaked her hand over to Dean and touched his arm gently.

"Hmm?" he groaned lifting his face from the pillow to look at her, only seeing the back of her head.

"Thank you Dean…" she whispered.

"For what?" he asked genuinely puzzled.

"For taking care of me like you do… for taking care of Sammy like you do… for being like my big brother…" Her hand squeezed his arm slightly as she spoke, but then retracted entirely when she was done.

"Well, you're welcome I guess…" he said, entirely confused as to what made her say that. "May I ask what demon possessed you to say that?"

Laura didn't answer for a while, Dean began to think that she had fallen asleep, but then she answered him. "No demon… just me. A very drugged up on pain killers, overtired me, but me nevertheless… And you do deserve thanks for what you do for us; you take care of Sam like John should. I dunno, sometimes you seem like more of a father to him than a brother."

Dean snorted in laughter. "I can tell you now darling, I would make a terrible father."

"I beg to differ…"

"Yeah, why?" Laura could tell Dean felt challenged by this conversation, but she didn't understand why.

"I dunno Dean. Would it really be such a bad thing? Is that really such a terrible thought? You as a dad?" she snarled, sitting up, her temper flaring.

"Yeah, cause I don't have time or patients for a kid! I've already got enough on my shoulders having to take care of you two!" Dean said rising to meet her.

His comment hit Laura's buttons just the right way to make her explode. "I really hate you sometimes Dean." She hissed.

"Yeah? Right back at ya!"

"You really know how to be a dick!"

"Yeah? Well congratulations, you're not so great yourself you selfish little pussy!"

"Will you two shut up!" John barked.

"Yes, sir." They both growled lying back down facing away from each other.

Laura curled up and pulled most of the covers over to her side. Dean glared at her back and pulled them all the way over to him. This continued until John yelled,

"I said knock it off!"

Then they both calmed down and lay seething at each other.

"G'night Dean…" Laura relented.

An angry muffled response came from Dean's pillow and Laura took it for a response. Eventually they both fell asleep and apologized awkwardly to each other in the morning.

That's what life had been like for them for the last twelve years, go to school during the day, read up on haunting and training by night, try to fool people into thinking you lead a normal life all the time, and on the weekends, hunt scary things. Sam, Dean and Laura were already known by at least a dozen different names in at least a dozen different states, the only thing constant was their life style, and each other. They were thankful for at least that much, because in an ever changing world, everyone needs something that stays the same. Something comforting that will never leave you, something guiding that will always be there for you, and always come for you, no matter where you are, no matter what's gone on. Everyone needs just that small assurance of having something there that will always be the same.

A/N: so there's the chapter… I'm rather proud of it. It is very long I know… trust me I didn't mean for it to be it just happened that way… 19 pages is pushing it, even for me. Please review, I'm always looking to improve my writing so that you may enjoy it more… This has been buzzing around in my head for weeks now, so it feels good to finally get it out. There may be some more one shots that pop up from time to time, but I don't expect to right a full-out story for this… I've got other things to work on and I couldn't come up with a decent plot for this story.

Regarding the Mary-sue-ness of Laura. First of all, the horrific past, what kind of hunter does not have some sort of tragic past? Also I needed a reason for Laura to be around the Winchesters for it to work so yeah. Don't worry she never actually gets with either of the boys or Castiel, she leads a single life always loving Dean in a slightly non-siblingy way, but nothing ever comes out of it… except once… they were both drunk… Regarding her looks, she's not supposed to be beautiful, she's average, and she looks and acts nothing like me, this is NOT a self-insert. Most people know me as either extremely quiet or a bitch. I'm trying to give her a bit of depth. To reiterate Laura is not a love interest for the boys, just a sister of sorts.


End file.
